The Hennessey Exorcist Camaro Is the Fastest Muscle Car Around, but is It Worth It?

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

The Hennessey Exorcist Camaro Is the Fastest Muscle Car Around, but is It Worth It?

This article was published by Joe Donaldson (@Joey D) on March 17th, 2018 in the Automotive News category.

 

[Turbo]

Any new muscle car with over 600hp stock isn't "worth it". People buy them as a way to show off, and that much power is pointless. I mean come on, who on planet Earth really needs 1000hp?

This one especially. Over $30k more than a Hellcat, seriously? You could buy a brand new RS7 or a 911 GTS for that price. If you're really a stickler for American cars, get a Vette Z06. All of those three are much more well-rounded.

 

[dice1998]

If you're really a stickler for American cars, get a Vette Z06. All of those three are much more well-rounded.

Or a Camaro ZL1.

 

[Turbo]

Or a Camaro ZL1.

That would work just as well, too.

I just miss the days when cars were simpler. This "horsepower war" is getting outrageous.

 

[Crazy Taylor]

All that money for a 10 second car. Pays to be elite.

 

[dice1998]

That would work just as well, too.

I just miss the days when cars were simpler. This "horsepower war" is getting outrageous.

It's honestly why I like the ZL1 over the Hellcat. Granted, I've never driven a hellcat, I can only imagine it's a handful and 650hp is more than enough for street and occasional track use, mefeels.

 

[Dylan]

I would define the newer Camaros more as sports cars than muscle cars...

 

[McLaren]

Any new muscle car with over 600hp stock isn't "worth it". People buy them as a way to show off, and that much power is pointless. I mean come on, who on planet Earth really needs 1000hp?

Pointless to you.

Everything to those looking to break current drag records. This weekend is TX2K and 1,000Hp is just enough to make some noise. Record breakers are running twice that.

This one especially. Over $30k more than a Hellcat, seriously? You could buy a brand new RS7 or a 911 GTS for that price. If you're really a stickler for American cars, get a Vette Z06. All of those three are much more well-rounded.

Neither of those Germans are going to hold a candle to this thing in the one area it was built for. A Z06 is a nice all around sports car, but again, horsepower wars matter on the drag strip. It may appear boring compared to a circuit, but it is a huge adrenaline rush.

 

[Cowboy]

If you're really a stickler for American cars, get a Vette Z06. All of those three are much more well-rounded.

Personally I'd go for a new Cadillac sedan.

Or a new Ranger

 

[05XR8]

I guess one way to look at the price is, how much do top fuel teams spend, to go .08secs quicker?

Either way, if a person doesn't have to deal with snow, with the quickness of these cars, a GT-R is pretty much a non issue.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

That would work just as well, too.

I just miss the days when cars were simpler. This "horsepower war" is getting outrageous.

Agreed. And it's all just dumb "more displacement + more boost" formula ad-naseum.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Ah yes, the official vehicle of the Pope.

 

[Silver Arrows]

I'm not going to get into the fact that Hennessey has been a ******** snake oil salesman for nearly 25+ years. I've spoken too much about it at this point.

What I will say is that I wish more people would realize this fact and stop giving John what he wants: attention. The supposed Venom F5 is going to be vaporware, and if it does come out, then John's going to talk smack about it before being promptly smacked down by Koenigsegg and Bugatti like he did with the Venom GT. Media outlets continue to talk to him and given him the attention he craves, people on Youtube comment boxes and Jalopnik comment sections are going to raise the point that he has grifted Viper owners for years, the cycle continues.

 

[McLaren]

I'm not going to get into the fact that Hennessey has been a ******** snake oil salesman for nearly 25+ years. I've spoken too much about it at this point.

What I will say is that I wish more people would realize this fact and stop giving John what he wants: attention. The supposed Venom F5 is going to be vaporware, and if it does come out, then John's going to talk smack about it before being promptly smacked down by Koenigsegg and Bugatti like he did with the Venom GT. Media outlets continue to talk to him and given him the attention he craves, people on Youtube comment boxes and Jalopnik comment sections are going to raise the point that he has grifted Viper owners for years, the cycle continues.

To John's credit, the Venom GT did do exactly what he wanted it to do. Even without Guinness' official blessing, two VBOXes were used with the manufacturer on hand to verify both systems. Bugatti to date, has never beat it either as the Chiron is limited to 261Mph and to my knowledge, no one has attempted the record in it yet, either.

As for the F5, there's a huge IF as to whether or not it can go 300Mph, but it definitely will not be "vaporware". The car debuted overseas at Geneva, and seems even closer to production.

 

[Aphelion]

To be honest things like this just irritate me. What a waste of time.

 

[flamingchariot]

To be honest things like this just irritate me. What a waste of time.

yet another pointless exercise ...if you can't put that power to use on a track its not practical

 

[NotThePrez]

yet another pointless exercise ...if you can't put that power to use on a track its not practical

It's a drag car, and it does put it's power to use, just not around a circuit.

 

[TexRex]

It's a drag car, and it does put it's power to use, just not around a circuit.

This. I don't think it's impressive, mind--though the lot-stock Z/28's circuit "abilities" don't really impress me either--but it does do what they say.

 

[05XR8]

Forget the 1960s, blame the Integra 1.7 GS. Before it came out, all way happy with the Mustang/Camaroland. Then this little Integra comes along, able to keep up with Mustang 225(205, actually)hp LX 5.0s.

 

[McLaren]

To be honest things like this just irritate me. What a waste of time.

I’m assuming you share that feeling for all the current super cars then. All that power and no use for it either 95% of the time....

 

[psntomaz]

a $85,000 Demon with $15-20K in Mods can do 8 Seconds, still be drive-able on the street in comfort., Seat 5 people (when Optioned), and haul Cargo. That's what make this a Pointless car.. Pretty sure a 900hp Demon could get to More .08 Seconds quicker.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

a $85,000 Demon with $15-20K in Mods can do 8 Seconds, still be drive-able on the street in comfort., Seat 5 people (when Optioned), and haul Cargo. That's what make this a Pointless car.. Pretty sure a 900hp Demon could get to More .08 Seconds quicker.

And the Chrysler brochure maker comes along to tout why the Dodge is still theoretically the best... Surprise surprise.

 

[McLaren]

a $85,000 Demon with $15-20K in Mods can do 8 Seconds, still be drive-able on the street in comfort., Seat 5 people (when Optioned), and haul Cargo. That's what make this a Pointless car.. Pretty sure a 900hp Demon could get to More .08 Seconds quicker.

The "Exorcist" can do that as well; it's just a big horsepower package added that still utilizes factory-everything else. If one wants, they can go for a wheel package more suited the track, same thing Dodge offers to the Demon in the Crate package.

As for what mods can do, you're touting your confidence way too early seeing as no one has a full build out yet, and the one company that is already testing is the Exorcist's own with plans to produce 1,500Hp out of the Demon. It sure as **** won't cost "$15-20K", though & I highly doubt any shop looking to build a Demon will have a price that low given the power goal will clearly be 1,000Hp at best.

 

[Joey D]

a $85,000 Demon with $15-20K in Mods can do 8 Seconds, still be drive-able on the street in comfort., Seat 5 people (when Optioned), and haul Cargo. That's what make this a Pointless car.. Pretty sure a 900hp Demon could get to More .08 Seconds quicker.

But a Demon with $15k-$20k in mods no longer carries a factory warranty, which also makes it pointless. For a $100k, you can buy any old muscle car body and build it in to a 9 second car. The whole point of the Demon and cars like the Exorcist is that they're 9 second cars with a factory warranty and you don't need any mechanical know how. You just buy them and then can immediately race them without all the issues that comes with a home built car.

I also highly doubt a Demon with $20k in mods is streetable in comfort. Almost no excessively modified car is. They run hot, suck in traffic, are loud, probably can't pass emissions, and are worthless in anything other than dry, warm weather. The engineers at FCA spent a ton of time and company money in making the Demon work in the real world.